Friday, March 29, 2013

In the grand old debate on what Goofy was (man or dog?) and what Gonzo was (bird or insect?), when I was a kid I wondered what Grimace was (must be something with the letter "G" that makes things ambiguous).

Those of us ol' timers remember when McDonalds had McDonaldland. McDonaldland was McDonald's marketing tool which began in 1971. The fantasy world was inhabited by Ronald McDonald and his cast of supporting characters (Officer Big Mac, Hamburglar, The Fry Kids, Mayor McCheese, Birdie the Early Bird, to name but a few). Most of these characters traits were easily correlated to who they were: Ronald was a clown, Officer Big Mac and Mayor McCheese were a hamburger and cheeseburger respectively, Hamburglar was a guy who steals hamburgers.

But what was Grimace? He was a big purple, blobby thing with big round eyes and bushy eyebrows. He originally began as a bad guy who stole milkshakes, but by 1972 he was changed into a good guy and his appearance was made less menacing.

McDonald's described Grimace as such: "He is a big fuzzy purple fellow and Ronald's special pal." Thanks McDonalds for making things as clear as mud.

You know there are just some mysteries which shall forever remain a mystery - like Stonehenge, crop circles, UFOs - I should come to accept that the big purple blobby thing called Grimace shall remain that big purple blobby thing called Grimace. He was officially retired from McDonalds in 2003 - RIP Grimace.

Thursday, March 28, 2013

Glass cloches were originally invented by the French. The purpose was to protect young plants from the harsher outside elements (i.e. weather, insects, etal). They acted almost like a miniature greenhouse. But lately, glass cloches can be used for home decor. People put any treasured or interesting item under them. Some of my favorites include the following:

If I had to put a plant in a cloche, I would choose a terrarium (the cloche would protect the terrarium from not just the weather elements, but from me - because I would probably kill it in a New York minute).

How about putting miniature furniture under your cloche? I had a thing for miniature chairs at one point in my tchotchke-infused life and now feel I need to bring that obsession back just to put it under it's own glass dome.

Monday, March 25, 2013

When I look for art I sometimes do not have to look further than my own home. My son, Milo, is five years old and has an imagination as limitless as every child seems to have.

Just recently while I was at work, my sister emailed me a photo of what my son and his cousin, Isa, had created using a piece of plastic and fallen succulent leaves. They said it was a robot and doggone it! it looked like a robot:

(photo by Stephanie McMahon)

While I kill plants, my son makes art out of the dead parts - we make a perfect team.

Friday, March 22, 2013

I remember the exact moment my girlish hormones went from "I'm too shy to say I'm crushing on this guy, because I'm still not sure what this is all about" to "Hello cutest guy on the planet! Please become my boyfriend!!!!!!" (had to add all those explanation points, because pre-teen girls say everything excitedly). That moment was 1983 when the movie The Outsiders (based upon the novel by S.E. Hinton) came sauntering into my life. Literally that movie was a living, breathing, Teen Beat magazine, but it had a certain grown-up feel to it because Francis Ford Coppola directed it and there was no cheezy '80s music montage moment (which BTW there is nothing wrong with those '80s music montage moments - The Karate Kid wouldn't be what it is without them).

Check out this cast: Patrick Swayze, Rob Lowe, Matt Dillon, Ralph Macchio, C. Thomas Howell, Emilio Estevez and Tom Cruise. All of them in their youthful beauty back then. My particular crushes were on C. Thomas Howell (Ponyboy Curtis) and Rob Lowe (Sodapop Curtis). And when I say "crushes," I mean like your typical over-obsessive teen crushes: plastering my bedroom walls with their posters, buying every possible Teen Beat, Bop, etal magazines, watching subsequent movies made by them...the list goes on and on. And to be honest, even though my teen crush on C. Thomas has faded, I still find Rob Lowe (who is almost 50 years old) smoking hot. Need proof:

But I digress﻿. The movie does not feel dated either (maybe because the movie was set in the 1960s, but filmed in the 1980s and therefore is hard to pinpoint the look of this movie) and it's score was done by The Godfather's Carmine Coppola and Stevie Wonder did the title track "Stay Gold" (inspired by Robert Frost's poem "Nothing Gold Can Stay"). There is too much cool attached to this film. Those that were disappointed the original film did not include additional scenes based upon the book, Coppola did release his "director's cut" with 22 additional minutes in 2005.

Want tidbits?

This was Rob Lowe's first major film role. He was 17 years old

The majority of the main cast were under 20 years old, except Patrick Swayze who was in his 30s and Ralph Macchio who was in his 40s (I kid! He was 20, but looked the youngest)

Director/writer (and Francis Ford Coppola's daughter) Sofia Coppola had a cameo as the girl who kept pestering Matt Dillon for a dime

The author of The Outsiders, S.E. Hinton, had a cameo as a nurse in one of the hospital scenes

For those who probably have GIFS or Tumblrs of Tom Cruise running in his movies, he does have a very brief running scene before they fight the Socs in the big rumble scene (also Cruise has the least amount of screen time than the other main cast members)

Blooper fans? When Matt Dillon (Dally) falls off the chair in the drive-in theatre it was really an accident, but they kept the scene in the movie

Blush moments for a pre-teen girl: (1) Rob Lowe (Sodapop) coming out of the shower; and (2) Matt Dillon (Dally) in his tightie whities

Wednesday, March 20, 2013

I find Chelsea Handler not very funny (sorry Handler fans), but the gal has an beautiful office space. Which makes me think that in real life she isn't as abrasive or crude, but a sweet, girly girl like the rest of us.

Her office is super feminine. All those pops of pinks and magenta. The desk facing the lounge area is perfect if I wanted to do work and entertain at the same time or when I just want to kick back and read some design books.

How about that awesome wall art by Kyle Bunting. It is made entirely of hide. It is definitely appreciated from afar as well as up close. The brass Arteriors lamp is of the moment and fits in perfectly with the decor.

Check out the rest of her space over here. Girlfriend even has a vanity mirror desk and a floor to ceiling marble bathroom.

Monday, March 18, 2013

Graphic designer Eiko Ojala created this vertical landscape illustration. It looks like cut paper, but it isn't. Eiko draws everything digitally by hand to make it look like cut paper. He does not use any 3D software. His illustrations are amazing. Check out the details.

Go visit this talented illustrator's website and see the rest of his work.

Sunday, March 17, 2013

I do not believe there is any Irish blood in my vast filipino background, but that didn't stop me from celebrating St. Patrick's Day growing up. I remember as a kid I was so afraid of not wearing green because that would usually result in me getting a swift and painful pinch from my siblings. In celebration of St. Paddy's Day, this blog post is done DesignStylePop! style:

Design. San Diego's Emerald Plaza Building, located in downtown San Diego, is probably the most visible sight when you fly into San Diego at night. It's the fifth tallest building in San Diego clocking in at 450 feet. It's architectural style is post-modern. It is quite literally our own Emerald City.

Style. I've always admired Monique Lhuillier's fashion. The fact that she is also part-Filipino doesn't hurt, but at the same time she has a wonderful sense of what looks good on a woman by highlighting and enhancing our femininity by her common use of lace and flowing chiffon. Her Fall 2013 collection I'm completing loving, there is such an opulence to it. She even uses Pantone's color of the year (Emerald) to good effect.

Pop. Kermit the Frog is my favorite muppet. His Rainbow Connection performance sitting by the lily pond strumming on his banjo was as touching as they come. Kermit was always a little too unsure of himself- reminds me of myself. So it was nice to see this inspirational billboard on the freeway from the Foundation for a Better Life. Even a frog like Kermit should feel confident and proud and show to everyone that it is easy "being green."

Friday, March 15, 2013

Okay, it's Friday, I'm happy that the weekend is almost here and I found the gosh damn cutest gif of a baby duck running towards a camera. So random, but makes me as happy as a clam in high water. Enjoy!

Wednesday, March 13, 2013

True story - when I was in college, my sister gave me her cactus plant to take care of. I thought this shouldn't be too hard - Desert plants do not need much water right? They reside in dry and hot climates!...Wrong!

You know when you watch those nature documentaries and they show time lapse footage of a plant slowly dying, well this cactus did not slowly wilt away, it quite literally fell over right in front of me! It was hollow and dead inside and it looked kind of like this:

A pretty dead-on characterization of that cactus (well, minus the x's for eyes and the downward smile). Needless to say, no one ever gives me plants to take care of anymore. I am also lucky that my husband has a green thumb and actually enjoys taking care of our plants (he also cooks and therefore I am the luckiest woman on the planet).

What's a girl to do when I love looking at plants but have such a 'black' thumb? Well, you go fake.

These adorable paper plants and succulents (including a paper pot) are obviously fake, but they are so whimsical, quirky and colorful that I wouldn't mind having them sit on my window sill as decoration. No watering necessary - bonus!

The Flirty Guide has a brilliant DIY tutorial on creating these pretty little origami cherry blossoms on real branches. No potential of wilting petals. Brilliant.Of course, as with life, there is always hope. I haven't given up on having real plants and discovered the trick to keeping plants alive...it's called water stupid.

Monday, March 11, 2013

I have a couple of Matryoshka dolls or more commonly known as Russian nesting dolls. The whole idea of opening up something and finding something even smaller in it was always interesting to me. The typical Matryoshka dolls had the outside figure as a Russian peasant woman, which when opened repeatedly eventually revealed a baby inside. Lately, it's the more modern renderings of Nesting dolls that have got me thinking of buying outside the typical Matryoshka versions. They are all clever and some have a sense of humor about them.

Friday, March 8, 2013

It used to be in the day that bow ties were considered for older, professorial gents or Alfalfa from Little Rascals, but now I'm noticing that the bow tie is making it's comeback with a much cooler crowd.

I'm personally digging the guy who can sport this look outside of your typical red carpet tuxedo. If you can wear a bow tie with your suit or with just a dress shirt and look like you own it, then you are superbad in my book.

Is the bow tie sexy? That can be debatable, but it does have a certain hipster-nerd-cool vibe to it.

Need proof? Check these guys out:

The Gosling. Nuff said. The guy could wear a bucket on his head and still look cool.

JT. I can now forgive him for his frosted tips, diamond earrings and questionable fashion sense back in his *NSync days, because JT is such the renaissance man and he knows a good bow tie when he sees it.

JGL. Not only was he the best character with style in Inception, but on the red carpet he knows how to rock a bow tie. If there is a word to describe JGL, it's "dandy."

K. West. Before he lost cool credit by dating a Kardashian, Kanye had better taste in accessories with his bow ties.

RDJr. Only Iron Man himself can get away with the polka dot bow tie and striped jacket. His irreverent style fits his personality to a T.

Harry. I'm an old fogey, so I only knew about this kid by reading US Magazine and dancing (badly) to his band's song on Wii's Just Dance 4, but I find his last name fitting - this kid has "Style"s.

B. Goreski. If there ever was a person on the face of this planet who is trying his damndest to bring the bow tie back, it is this former assistant to stylist Rachel Zoe. I can just imagine his immense collection of bow ties rotating in his walk-in closet. It's probably like walking into Willy Wonka's Chocolate Factory.

Tuesday, March 5, 2013

This past weekend, I visited one of my favorite little shops in San Diego, Pigment. This shop sells adorable home decor and accessories. If you are ever in the neighborhood, check Pigment out. It's a great place to find perfect gifts for those you care about.

In particular I love this shop for all the wonderful, creative, terrariums it sells. You can even buy DIY kits to make your own. Revisiting this shop inspired today's post regarding Terrarium as art. To be honest, I have this uncanny ability to kill any plant I have, including succulents and air plants - the two types of plants that are very hard to kill. What can I say, it's a gift. But that doesn't stop me from looking at terrariums and appreciating the work that goes into creating a beautiful tiny landscape.

Artist Kim Holleman uses found objects and trash to create terrarium sculptures. Her pieces express her views on our current environmental state and our possible future. There is a colorful beauty to her 'sculptures' but at the same time a point to be made.

My favorite type of Terrarium art is where there is a miniature world happening.

Some of the best "miniature" terrarium worlds I have seen is at Twig Terrariums. They sell DIY kits, but also imaginative ready-made terrariums.

Artist Paula Hayes creates these gorgeous biospheres highlighting the beauty of nature. Her work has been displayed in galleries like MoMA.

Terrariums are like zen gardens - beautiful and relaxing. Try your hand at one and you'll be hooked.

Friday, March 1, 2013

I was a big doodler in my younger days and I admit even now, during one of my job's long office meetings, I zone out by doodling on my notepad. So when I found out the illustrator, Christoph Niemann, had done an IPad app (Petting Zoo) I had to have it for me my kids. His doodles come alive with a few simple strokes. There are no instructions needed, kids instinctively know how to swipe up, down, and from side to side. Not only is this app affordable, it's so kooky, clever and entertaining that it's hard to put down.

Kids can create music on the back of a porcupine, by the legs of an octopus, or the teeth of a crocodile.

My favorite is the ladybug on the apple you can make him do a quick jog around the apple, ride his skateboard, jump on the apple, and if you swipe fast enough, he "flames on."

The clever transitions between each doodle is also a plus. Even the credits are doodle animated.

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Please remember to give proper credit if using photos (whether original or sourced elsewhere) from this blog. Please do not use any of the photos of my children. If you see any photos credited incorrectly or would like a photo removed, please email and I will make the correction promptly.